Here is my Open Beta Review of Runes of Magic. This is a Free2Play MMORPG adopted from a korean game called RA. Below I list my opinion on my playtime in Beta along with a few suggestions for new people wanting to get the most out of playing. I played Closed Beta for quite sometime and played across multiple characters. The highest level achieved before the last wipe into Open Beta was a level 32 war. I dabbled in mostly PVE so there is no PVP impressions at all in this beta review. I hope you enjoy, so go grab you delicious treat, sit back, and let the reading continue!

First things First!

Character Customization

This is the first thing you come upon when entering into the game. Don't be surprised either, the customization is really simple. There are a lot of pre-made options so you won't get to confused. There isn't a lot of unique features here. Most of the features are what you would see in any "other" MMORPG. Different choices in hair style, color, different faces, different sizes or certain places on the body and skin color. Nothing to fancy. All in all, just a normal character customization. There are 6 classes:

Knight, Mage, Warrior, Priest, Scout, Rogue

and One Race which is Human. Others races are suppose to come in installments or expansions. This is your basic setup. You will also choose a name here and that's mostly it.

Interface - UI

When entering into the game, this will be the first thing you notice. If you have played an MMORPG before, nothing here will be different from the "norm". You can remap keys, the are extra action bars. The only things I find limited are bags which can be purchased via clicking on the upgrade button inside your inventory and spending diamonds. The UI comes with a standard mini-map which has all the basic options hanging and also is where the cash-shop button is located for those who may have missed it. Things like resources and quest npc's can be seen on the mini-map. Also, some quest pickups can be found on the mini-map. Example would be trying to find the Dirt pile, it will be an orange dot which will pop up once in the area. You can also move around pretty much everything on the UI and the UI can be modded heavily although I have seen no mods as of yet. The only downfall to the interface I found was the size of ceratin text and character portraits at default size.

Gameplay

Game play will be the third thing you will notice in the game. The movement in this game resembles a lot of most standard MMORPG's. You use action bars to place your skills on and click the skills to promote action in your character. All your skills are given to you. While leveling your character you will gain TP, which can be spent on upgrading your skills. Your skill tab can be accessed using the "K" key and skills can be upgraded by either clicking the upgrade button or double clicking the skill and moving the buttons on the pop-up screen. The spell effects and animations are decent for a Free2Play game. Some of the melee animations seem rather edgy and skippy in some areas. You can move around using the standard WSAD keys or remap your keys to whatever you like. All in all, a very decent UI. Very customizable and a lot better than what I've seen in most Free2Plays.

Questing

I separated this from gameplay because this deserves its own section. Questing is pretty much the same as most MMORPGS. You have the gather quests and the fedex type quests. You can also unlock certain quests for your secondary class by completing them on your primary class. This can lead to some pretty decent quest dialogue if its been translated or you understand korean. A plus for those who do read, =).

Dual Classes

Once you reach level 10, you will be able to dual class. This allows you to select another class from the 6 classes to be your secondary class. When you choose a secondary class and level it up, you will be able to use all of there secondary skills. The good things about this system are:

- You can be different from the rest. Scout /Priest anyone? =)

- Allows you to work with multiple characters allowing you to experiance more of the game

- Good for when your roaming the chat and looking for a group, you have 2 roles

The bad:

- Cannot gain XP on your secondary character while playing your primary. Will have to switch classes which can be done by going into your house and talking to the house fairy.

- The fact you have to go to your house to switch classes

- Some skills seem useless, some skills seem to be to much, really is no balance in the skills.

I love this system, but it does need some more ironing out. I would love to see an option for choosing what skills you can have from your secondary class instead of just getting their secondary skills. Maybe a mix of some of the primary and secondary with a limit put on how many you can obtain per level. I would also love for their to be a way to gain XP on your secondary while playing your main, or at least an easier way to switch to your secondary. Maybe create a quest line to obtain a spell that does it for you.

Crafting

I will not jump into this much, and for obvious reasons. Yes there is a crafting system and yes it works. It does have some problems with it. The main points are that you can do all the professions. The resource gathering is very simple as nodes are placed on your mini map plus they have a glow around them. Very hard to miss them. You can scan there forums to find out the issues as I don't want this review to turn into a bitchfess about why I don't like there way.

Housing

Yes, housing in a Free2Play MMO. This housing resembles EQ2's housing the most. Your house is an instance, and others can stop by to see it. You can purchase furniture and crafting stuff to craft in your house. You can also purchase paperdolls which can be bought using tokens gained through daily quests. Also another neat feature but I'm not sure if it works yet is the bonus XP while crafting/resting in your house. It was talked about in Closed Beta but I never really tested it out, and was bugged. All in all, a very nice feature to come to Free2Plays. Your house is also where you change classes, dont forget that.

Conclusion

I did not add in PVP, because I didn't experience it in Closed nor do I care too. I'm just not that big of a PVP fan to care. There is also some rumors about the latest incoming patch to change the rule-sets. I enjoy Runes of Magic though, its got its ups and downs, but for being FREE, is a good side game to play. The cash shop doesn't look like it will hamper the economy and the fact that servers are split up makes finding groups alot easier. No longer do you have to guess what the Korean or Euro is saying. The chat interface is clean and easy to use and offers many options and the game runs solid on a low end spece'd box. Below I would like to list some hints along with some suggestions about things you may not know about for you new players.

TIPS TO HELP NEWCOMMERS:

1. Gather the daily quest items and use them for your secondary class as XP. This will help ease the grinding when playing your secondary character.

2. There are actually 2 starter areas. The second area you will not know about until you hit level 10. Once you hit level 10 and choose your 2nd class, you can level it up in this area instead of grinding in the first starter area. The port skill is in your skill book located under the Logar Delivery skill. BE careful though when questing there, a very high level area is close by that contains level 40+ mobs that tend to have a huge agro range when you in you lower teens.

3. Try to turn in quest on your primary for items you will use on your primary, and leave the quests that give other items for your secondary. Say you choose Warrior/Priest. If a quest gives you a sword as a reward, turn it in on your Warrior. If its a staff or something with +int, let your Priest turn it in. It will help with finding items so you don't have to waste money at the AH or vendor.

4. Save your charges for your magic box/transmuter. You can use them to add stats to gear, but while leveling up, your going to be replacing gear fast and you may end up wasting charges for nothing. Best bet is to use them to upgrade the runes and store the runes for a later date when your near max level.

5. Master skills, yep you get them. You will get these once at level 15, and every 5 levels after. You need to have both your primary and secondary up to level 15 to be able to get the first skill. Each skill requires materials which are mostly found through resource gathering, some in instances. These skills are different depending on your class picks and really help alot. You can find the first Master trainer in Varainas in the Class Hall. She will tell you the materials you will need for the certificate which gives you your skill and will also tell you where to find the next Master Skill Trainer. (This is by far the one thing I find everyone skipping over.)

6. Let your secondary do the crafting and resource gathering, it allows you to be a bit more organized. When your done questing on your primary, you can easily empty your bags at your house, switch to your secondary, grab your crafting and resource material and get to work without trying to squeeze the most out of your inventory. Remember you only get 2 free slots, the rest have to be purchased through the upgrade button.

And last but not least, and this is not a tip, but moreso some need to know info. When purchasing items through the cash shop you will be using diamonds which cost real money through their website. The neatest thing about this is, you can also sell items on the AH for diamonds. Meaning, you can purchase items off a cash shop without ever purchasing diamonds with real cash. Find a good item, sell it for diamonds instead. Neat, eh? =)

Well thats the end, hopefully something in this beta review will help you on your journeys and help you choose wether this game is for you. If you have any troubles in-game, You can messege MistMan on Osha PvE US Server. I am more than willing to help with anything and goodluck to those who find there home here. For those who like scores, I give this game a 7/10. And I do not play with sound, hence the no sound catagory also.